Hope and Suffering
by kirakirakatsu
Summary: AU. What would have happened if the Committee had figured out where Speed Jr. was before he came to the Academy? Rated for guns, and things to happen in later chapters...
1. Rejection and Waylay

**Author's Note: Yep. I changed my pen name from Racer V to kira-kira katsu. It's Japenese for glittering/shining triumph. Anyway, this is an AU story. Speed Jr.'s POV. What would have happened if the Committee had figured out where Speed was before he came to the Academy? Lite Fingers Clepto, Jr. and his adopted son, Wilbur, are both mentioned, so if you think it should be in the crossover section then please review and say so.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Speed Racer: The Next Generation.  
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I got out of the black sedan that looked very government-like. Technically speaking, it was government property. It belonged to Jedediah Stroke. He was a social worker. He had been driving me back to the orphanage after one of the few potential foster parents that ever paid any attention to me had sent me away. This was not the first time I'd been rejected. The conversation Jed and I had in the car kept playing itself over and over in my head...

_"That was my last chance, wasn't it?" I said. I stared blankly out of the window of the passenger seat._

_"I don't know."_

_"Yes, you do. You've placed dozens of kids. You know when someone's last chance is." I retorted grimly._

_"That probably was your last chance. But it's hard to tell. If it was, it's just because of your age. Everyone wants to adopt-"_

_"Babies." I finished. "Lucky them." I mumbled under my breath._

I walked up the stairs to the front door of the Clepto Orphanage, followed by Jed. He was the one who knocked on the door. I just stared blankly at the ground. Wilbur Clepto opened the door.

"Come on in." He said. He'd been through this enough times to know not to try and ask me the questions. He waited until I was upstairs and in my room to ask Jedediah. My roommate, Skippy (named after the peanut butter brand because he couldn't get enough of the stuff) was at school, and probably wouldn't be back for another ten minutes. This gave me time to take the worst of the grief.

I sighed, and flopped down on my bed. Two days. Two days, and they had already tired of me. Normally it would take a week. There was one couple who had kept me for a whole summer. I'd had ten foster parents, not counting the Hendersons, who had only kept me for a few hours, and I was sixteen. When Jed tells people he's trying to place someone who's sixteen, people think he's crazy.

Once you hit seven, the potential for getting adopted starts to slim. I've got about a 0% chance now. I buried myself under the covers , like I always did when I was upset. I heard the front door slam. Skippy and about twelve other kids were back from school. Skippy was the only one who had a room this high up, so at least I wouldn't have to answer too many questions. I'd probably go to a fast food place for dinner just to avoid conversation. I sat up and tried to look fine as I heard Skippy running up the hall.

"Speed? What are you.... oh." Even though he was only six, Skippy was pretty good at reading expressions, or at least mine.

"That was probably my last chance." I said, just to make my point. I envied Skippy. He'd only been at the orphanage for a year. But, at the save time I felt sorry for him. He had lost his parents at a very young age. His full name is Samuel Joseph Smith. Despite his short time at the orphanage, he knew what being rejected by foster parents was like.

"Want some peanut butter?" Skippy offered me a jar of peanut butter from his 'secret stash' that he kept underneath a loose floorboard. How he got that many peanut butter jars was beyond me.

"Sure." I said, even though I wasn't hungry. The last time I had turned down peanut butter in front of Skippy had not been pretty. Peanut butter to him was just as important as racing was to me. Just as I was about to stick a spoonful in my mouth when I heard Wilbur yell;

"Speed? Could you come down here, please?"

"Wonder what that's about." I said to Skippy. I stood up and walked downstairs. Wilbur was standing in his office with two bald men in black suits, black neckties, and black sunglasses. One was extremely pale, and the other had light brown skin.

"Speed, these men are social workers. They're going to take you to another children's home that's geared more towards teenagers."

"Okay." I didn't object. Anywhere but here sounded good to me. "I'll go get my bag." I walked upstairs, grabbed my still-packed backpack, told Skippy what was going on, and walked back downstairs.

"Good luck, Speed. Bye." Wilbur said.

"Bye." The two men walked me outside. I glanced around, trying to look for their car. All I could find was a black van with windows that were so tinted you couldn't see inside. They started to lead me towards it. Something felt wrong. Social workers usually drove more compact cars than a van, and when they did drive vans, they certainly weren't as old as this one. It was in the classic boxy shape and everything. They opened the back doors. I gasped, and my eyes widened. The inside of the van was void of any type of seating other that the driver's seat and the passenger seat, which had glass (probably soundproof) that was separating the front from the back, but that's not what had me wanting to kick butt. Inside was a kid who only looked about a year older than me. His hands were tied behind his back. He had green eyes, brown hair, and was wearing green pants and a grey shirt. I couldn't see his entire right arm, but it looked like it had a tatoo on it. He said nothing.

"Drop the backpack. Scream, and you both die right here." One of the men said. I dropped the backpack.. Somebody immeadiatly tied my hands behind my back.

"Get in." The other one said in a light New Jersey accent. I did. They tossed in my backpack. Probably just to make my kidnapping look less obvious. The door shut behind me, and the men got in the front. I was so stunned by what was going on that I forgot to sit down. I fell with a thud when the van started moving. That's when I saw the tatoo. It was in the shape of an X.

"You're X Racer, aren't you?" I asked, just to make sure.

"Yeah. And you are?" X _Racer _was asking me my name. Great. Just great.

"........Speed....." I said after a good minute of thinking about whether or not I should lie.

"Really? Why'd your parents name you that? Or is it just a nickname?" X asked.

"It's not a nickname...." _Now or never.... _I thought. "And... I don't know my parents. I grew up in an orphanage. All I know is that they left me with a key and a red bandana." I decided to try to get into an upright position. Luckily, I had tried to sit up with my hands tied back before (when I was six, I wanted to see if it could be done), so I did it without looking like an idiot.

"I'm sorry." X said.

"Don't be." Nobody else really seemed to care, except mabye Skippy and Wilbur, but I decided not to mention this. I wondered what was going to happen next. And what any of it had to do with me.

* * *

**Author's Note: OH NO!!! Speed Jr doesn't KNOW he's the long-lost second-son of the legendary Speed Racer AND he's been kidnapped along with X!!!!! next chapter coming soon......**


	2. Ringing Answers

**Author's Note:Okay, I admit that using people from the original series that only appeared in one episode was confusing to the people who haven't seen the original series (thanks to xbleedinglotusx for reviewing and saying something about it). The beginning of this chapter is in third person. Hopefully it will bridge the knowledge gap. This is most likely the last time any of the members of the Clepto family are mentioned, though. I'll let you know when it switches back to Speed Jr's POV. R&R, please. ;)**

**Disclaimer:If I had enough money to buy Speed Racer: The Next Generation, then I wouldn't be wrighting fanfiction. I'd be making NEW EPISODES!!!  
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Wilbur turned off the TV, and sighed. _Interesting, _he thought, _and very sad. _X Racer was missing. He had possibly been kidnapped. And on the same day that two social workers came to take Speed to a children's home for teenagers up in Greenville. Things that happened to Speed always seemed to coincide with things that happened to the Racer family. He arrived at the orphanage, barely a day old, on the last day anyone saw Speed Racer. Technically it was the last night anyone saw Speed Racer, since Wilbur had heard the vigrous knocking at about eleven o'clock p.m. The same name was written in black marker on the side of the cardboard box Speed was in. Wilbur thought back to the time he had met Speed Racer. He really was a selfless guy. Wilbur's adoptive father had degrated Speed Racer until he found out that Speed Racer drove a stick shift. Even so, when Light Fingers Clepto's Model T car had gotten stolen by Tounge Blackkard, Speed Racer had still helped the entire family to get it back. Speed Racer had even given the reward money to Light Fingers so he could use it to build a home for children who had none. Without Speed Racer, the Clepto Orphanage wouldn't exist. Wilbur thought it saddening that not only did Speed Racer disappear, but now X was missing, too. Wilbur decided to give Speed a call. He dialed the operator.

"Operator, get me Greenville Children's Home, please." Wilbur said when he got an answer. There was no response.

"I'm sorry. I can not acquire the number for Greenville Children's Home. Please try again." An nasally female voice replied. Wilbur hung up the phone. He turned on his computer, went online, and typed in _Greenville Children's Home_.

Nothing came up.

(Okay, back to Speed Jr.'s POV)

X and I had been locked up in the back of the van for a few days. The only time they stopped was to let us go to the bathroom. We were driving right through the desert. Nothing was there. No civilizations. X and I didn't have our cell phones (our captors, whose names we still did not know, had destroyed them once we were far enough away from any civilization), so we couldn't call for help. Then we stopped. The two men opened the back door to the van to let us out. Light flooded my eyes, blinding them temporarily. They didn't untie our hands, which I took as a sign that this was no bathroom break.

There was nothing around us except for a few mesas, and a shack. The men pointed guns at our backs and made us walk towards the shack. Once we were inside, it was dark again. There was nothing in the shack, because what looked like a shack from the outside was actually just a really big elevator. We went down with a lurch. Once we got to our destination, what I hoped was the only floor, everything changed. The room was dark, for the most part. The area just a few feet around the entrance to the elevator was dimly lit. In the center of the room, which was dark, was a large table, big enough to sit at least ten people. Closest to the elevator entrence sat a woman, the only female in the group. I could barely make out a man in a cowboy hat, and a rather rotund man in a top hat, and a few other figures. On the opposite wall was a large computer screen. The woman, obviously the leader, stood and spoke.

"Ahh. You have not failed to bring us what we need." She said to the two men who obviously were pawns in this very big game. Then she turned her gaze to X. "X Racer. The son of the ledgendary Speed Racer. We finally meet. We here at the Committee know that you will be of use to us." She turned to me. "But you, what was your name? Speed? Very clever. I suppose you are wondering what you are doing here. From what little information about you we were able to gather, you were left at the Clepto Orphanage on June 29, 1992, at 11:00 p.m. The number of your case is 143561309. A social worker by the name of Jedediah Oliver Stroke has been trying to place you in a foster home for years, to no avail. The only information _you _know about your birth parents is that they left you a key and a red bandanna." I tensed up. She called that a _little _information about me? She continued.

"I notice that you are, shall we say, a bit overwhelmed that we know so much about you. We employ thousands of people just so they can get information like that. At our headquarters here, we decide how useful that information is. The information we found on you was very useful indeed. But at a handsome price. You see, if we are wrong about you, then you die. Right here. Right now. And you wouldn't be very useful to us dead, now would you? You see, sixteen years and ten months ago today, we discovered that a group of two people were setting out to build a gasless engine. We have a lot of stocks in the oil industry. A gasless engine would ruin that. But we find a use for everthing. Instead of powering cars, that remarkable engine would power tanks. Our tanks. We could take over the world. Everything would bend to our will. You may think that we control the world, but there are certain areas..... Let's just say that we control 99.9 percent of the world. With that kind of gasless technology, world powers would fall to their knees. And it would be better for all of the people involved here. You see, it gets very boring here sometimes. But I am getting off topic. We needed a way to aquire the technology. We pondered this for about a month, gathering as much information as we could. We found out that one of the two briliant minds that were working on the engine had a wife. She was pregnate. We saw our oppertunity, and we took it. That baby, even though he was not yet born, was a bargaining chip. Countless times we tried to kidnapp the pregnate wife of that man, but he caught onto us. For a period of time, she did not go out into public. We would have been stumped, if the man who was working on that gasless engine wasn't Speed Racer." She paused. I could almost tell how all this affected X, but wasn't he seventeen? This woman had said sixteen years and ten months.....

"He was very crafty, I'll give him that." She continued. "But we knew the moment she was in labor. The baby hadn't been alive for more than ten minutes, when we struck. We only had the baby in our hands for a few minutes, just long enough to get a sample of DNA, one of the hairs, I think, when everything went wrong. Speed Racer fought with amazing skill. He got his second son back that night, and we lost him, the baby, and that other fellow who was working on the engine, I do believe that his name was Wilson Sparkolomew. But we still had that DNA sample. We have it all on file. Everything about that boy except his name. And now, here we are, a little over sixteen years later. Poised to find the long lost second son of the ledgendary Speed Racer." I was stricken. They thought that _I _was.......

"Now, Speed. I hope I won't scare you, but if for any reason you don't turn out to be Speed Racer's son, the we will have to kill you. Right here. Right now. You know far too much, and if you aren't Speed Racer's son, then of what worth are you to us?" She reached forward and plucked a single strand of hair from my head. I tried not to think about what was happening. She handed it to one of the men that were seated at the table. What happened next was too complicated to tell. I've read in books that it can take a long time to read an entire DNA strand. The 'Committee' did it in about five minutes. It was a complete and total match.

"Well, it looks as though you will be of use to us after all. You can lock them up now." The woman said. I felt sick to my stomach. A few days ago, I'd give anything to know who my real family was, but I didn't want to find out like _this._ With not only my life but the life of X, my... brother, as well. I felt like I was going to pass out. I heard a ringing in my ears. Everything else I heard sounded too far away. I was starting to see black dots dance around the edge of my vision. I felt the vague sensation of moving my legs in a forward motion. I thought we came to, was that a door? A hidden door that I hadn't seen when we came in. The two men must have untied our hands, because the next thing I knew, I was sitting in a fairly dark room, lit only by a lone light bulb hanging from the ceiling, my head between my knees. I was doing all I could to keep from passing out. I felt like I had just been hit by trains coming from every direction. The ringing in my ears grew louder... and louder.... and louder still...........


	3. Hopeful Starvation

**Author's Note: Okay, the entire chapter is in Speed Jr.'s POV. As usual, R&R. Don't read this chapter and wait for the next one if you absolutely hate dramatic, (metaphorically) really sharp, 90 degree cliff hangers.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Speed Racer: The Next Generation.  
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I don't know how long it had been. The only thing I could use to measure time with was when the Committee would open the door to give us food. By food I mean bread and water. Judging by the amount of time there was inbetween meals I'd say they fed us once a day. Or rather, fed X. I didn't feel like eating. I just sat in the corner of the room. Actually, it was more of a cave with a metal door. Everything was made out of rock. For a few days, X didn't try to talk to me. I was just fine with that. I had claimed my spot in one of the corners of the room. I had pulled my knees up to my chest once I stopped feeling like I was going to pass out. I was just staring blankly into space, trying not to be noticed. On what I could only guess was the third day we'd been locked up, X spoke.

"Speed?" I didn't answer.

"Speed, you have to eat something." I shook my head no.

"Please? Look, I know how shocking this must be for you, but if you don't eat something soon you're gonna starve yourself to death. Speed, look at me!" I wouldn't. But I finally spoke.

"Why eat? We're both going to die anyways." I said.

"No we're not." X said.

"There's no hope. Whatever these people want with us, they're going-" I started.

"They're NOT going to get what they want, that's for sure."

"X, what can we do? They've beaten us. There's no hope." I said.

"Speed, let me tell you a little story about hope. When I was a little over a year old, dad disappeared. I was devastated. I thought that he left because of me. I thought that if I could become a great racer like him, then he would come back. He didn't come back, even though I'm one of, if not _the, _best. I lost hope that he would ever come back. I had been racing for over a year when, I was kidnapped, and locked in the back of a van. I assumed that they wanted to hold me for ransom. After a few hours the kidnappers stopped. They didn't come back for a good ten minutes. When they did, they had this kid with them. They tied him up and locked him in the back of the van, too. When he told me his name, I thought that he was joking. He wasn't. When I asked him why his parents had named him that, he said that he didn't even know who his parents _were._ I felt sorry for him, but I respected him, too. His whole life, he'd been looking for a family, and he never gave up. After a day or two, we both found out that he was my brother. Speed, you may not know it, but your're the most hopeful person I've ever met. And I've met a lot of people." X said.

"I.... don't know how to respond to that." I said.

"You can try eating something." X extended his arm and offered me some of the bread that he had been saving for the past few days. I took it.

"Now that's what I like to see. We'll get through this. We just have to put our minds to it." I actually was about to smile for the first time in a few days when the door opened, revealing one of the men who had originally kidnapped us. He was carrying a gun.

"Get up." He said.


	4. Escaping an Inferno

**Author's Note: Okay, just to clarify on my sudden boom of chapters, I have a whole week off of school for Thanksgiving (my school district can be so great sometimes) and I have NOTHING ELSE TO DO!!!! Relatives don't start coming until Thursday, and my mom banned me from the kitchen after the pumpkin pie incident. The weather in my town is currently cold and wet. And the metaphoric wheels inside my mind won't stop!!!! I keep getting ideas......... normally I come up with all my fanfic ideas in geometry (math makes me zone out), but now I can REALLY concentrate, and I CAN'T STOP!!!**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Speed Racer: The Next Generation. There, I said it. NOW ON WITH THE STORY!!!!!  
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The man tied our hands behind our backs again. We were led back to the elevator. This time we were lead up and out of the deceptive shack. I could _feel _the presence of the gun that would open fire if either of us tried to escape. When the door to the shack opened, light once again flooded my eyes. When they adjusted to the light, I saw two people I didn't recognize standing in front of a black truck. One, the man, looked about 5'10" and middle aged. He had brown hair, and was wearing blue and khaki. He also had a brown leather jacket. The other person, a woman, looked to be about 5'6". She was wearing a dark blue t-shirt, blue jeans, and brown hair cut in a small flip. She looked really confused and a little sad. The man looked....blank. X spoke first.

"Mom? Uncle Spritle? What are you doing here?" Then the man spoke.

"Do you have the information?" He put the gun in his pocket. The man who was my Uncle Spritle approached the man, coming between X and I.

"Sure do." Spritle punched the man square in the nose. The woman who was....my mom...... pulled a small swiss army knife and cut X and I free.

"Get in the truck!!! QUICK!!!" She yelled. We didn't second guess. Uncle Spritle sprinted towards the driver's seat, mom took shotgun, X and I got into the cramped back seat. The man pulled his gun out again and fired at the truck. It barely even cracked the glass.

"Put on your seat belts and hang onto something!" Mom said.

"Spritle, there's no way we can outdrive these guys. They ran _me _off the road and did I don't know what to the Shooting Star."

"We know. We found the wreckage just after we got this call from some frump saying she kidnapped you guys and wanted engine schematics for the Mach 6." Mom said.

"Luckily I had a young mechanic from the Academy fix up my truck and add some gadgets to it. And she handles great now." Spritle said.

"Was it that redheaded kid that's dad's biggest fan? Connor?"

"Yeah. I haven't met a mechanic as good as him since Sparky." Spritle said. "You know his real name was Wilson-"

"Sparkolomew. We know." X and I said together.

"You do? What else do you know?" Mom asked as Spritle floored the gas pedal; Committee cars had come into vision, and were gaining fast.

"Nearly every detail." I said. The cars were next to us now, on either side. Spritle hit a button on the dashboard, and, I don't know what happened. I think the tires were shielded now. Either way, when the other cars tried to pop the tires, it didn't work. Then Spritle pushed another button. I don't know, automatic jacks or something propelled us up into the air, just as the two cars tried to collide with us (they ended up driving into each other). The entire series of events took about ten minutes. It was kind of cool knowing that my uncle could do something like that.

"I think we lost them." Spritle said as he continued to drive like, well, a Racer.

"That was cool." Was all I could say.

"Where did you learn how to do that?" X asked.

"Your father taught me a few things before he disappeared."

"Why didn't either of you tell me I had a brother?" X asked. Mom and Uncle Spritle exchanged a quick glance.

"We didn't want to worry you." Mom started.

"X, before your father disappeared, he told me not to tell you because he didn't want you trying to find Speed. It was just too dangerous. What just happened is proof of that. He was afraid that the Committee would hurt you if you knew about your brother." Uncle Spritle said.

"I really wish I could've told you." Mom added. We pulled up to a one story house surrounded on three sided by a suprisingly thick layer of pine trees.

"Wait, we were _this _close to the house the whole time?" X asked in shock.

"Yep." Mom said as we all got out of Uncle Spritle's truck. "Spritle, would you mind staying for dinner?"

"Of course." Uncle Spritle said.

"Mom, why ask? We all know he'll go anyplace that has food, nutrition, edible, breakfast, lunch, brunch, snack, or dinner in the name." X joked.

"I still can't believe that you eat as much as you did back when you were seven and shorter than me." Mom said to Uncle Spritle.

"At least I'm not still addicted to candy." Spritle said. Everybody laughed, including me, even though I didn't quite understand why it was so funny.

"All I know is that you and X must be starving." Mom said to me.

"Oh-ho. No. Don't even get me started. For I don't know _how_ long Speed ate _nothing._ Seriously, he must've lost, I don't know, ten pounds _at least_. It took a lot of persistence on my part and the pep talk of the century just for me to get him to eat. And, of course, as soon as he took a few bites, Mr. Bald-Guy-That's-Working-for-the-Organization-That's-Trying-to-Kill-Us opened the door and pointed a gun at our faces, tied us up, lead us outside, we ran into you, and then there was that car chase, and now we're here. By the way, mom, where did you get a Swiss Army Knife?" X said, surprisingly, without stopping for breath.

"One, I got it at that Army Surplus store on 5th Street. Two, I'm will be making Ultimate Chicken; and you two," She pointed to me and X, "Are going to eat like kings." And with that we all walked inside the house and mom went into the kitchen.

"What's Utlimate Chicken?" I asked X. Spritle answered.

"It's chicken fried in biskit mix."

"Sounds good." I said. This time X answered.

"It is."

"Spritle, can you help me find the biskit mix? I think somebody rearranged the pantry." We heard mom yell.

"Okay, I'm coming." Spritle said while rolling his eyes.

"Mom, that was you, remember? You said that the pantry was unorganized and decided to rearrange it." X said.

"We stink." I said as soon as Spritle was out of earshot.

"Yeah. I haven't showered since the day we were kidnapped."

"Me neither." I was trying to figure out how to word the phrase, '_I don't know where the bathroom is.' _without looking like an idiot in what was (awkwardly) my own house.

"There's a shower down the hall and to the left, or there's the one that connects to the guest room, the last door on the right. Which one do you want?" X seemed to read my mind.

"The one in the guest room." I said. I felt my face grow hot. I hated it when I blushed. I walked toward the guest room. It had white walls and white shag carpet, but the sheets on the queen sized bed were a light green. There were a few pieces of what I could only guess was furniture that was white, but it didn't look that white. It looked like it was painted to look old. I walked into the bathroom, which was also mostly white. I had absolutely no idea what I would do in the clothing department once I got out of the shower (my backpack was probably still in the back of the van). I took off my two shirts, revealing the key that I had on a black string around my neck. I was thankful that I hadn't put it or the bandana that rested in my pocket in my backpack. I'd be devestated if I lost either of the two objects that were so important to me, especially now that I knew whom they had originally belonged to. I took off the rest of my clothes and got into the shower.

* * *

After about seven minutes I was done, and I dried off. Once I did, I noticed how hot it was. I decided to put on my dirty clothes for now; hopefully X would let me borrow some of his that didn't fit him anymore. When I tried to open the bathroom door, the knob burned me a little. _This is bad, _I thought as I took out my bandana and wrapped it around my burned hand. I grabbed a towel and used it to open the door. I got the 'pleasure' of feasting my eyes on a raging inferno. I looked around for a window. There was none. I noticed a very narrow path where the fire wasn't burning and ran through it. I got out of the guest room with no problems except for the burning ceiling fan than almost fell on me. By the time I was in the hallway, my already dirt-covered clothes were now covered in soot and ash, too. Mabye it was the smoke, or mabye it was my lack of nutrition, but I was starting to black out. I got as close to the floor as I could.

"X! Mom! Uncle Spritle! Where are you?!" I called out. Just before I passed out, I thought I heard sirens. I thought I heard a door break.

"No, he's still in there!" I heard my mom yell. _No, it can't end like this; I finally know who my family is, _I thought.

"I'm in here!" I tried to yell. I don't think I was heard over the roar of the fire.

"He's my _brother. _You have to find him." I heard X choke out.

"Don't worry, we'll find him." An unnamed voice said. I grew worried. Would they find me in time? I was slowly dropping into unconciousness. I thought I heard glass breaking behind me. I felt the vague sensation of being carried away. I thought I saw my father's red bandana fall from my hand.

"No................." I whispered before I slipped into blissful unconciousness.


	5. Social Services

**Author's Note: Oh yeah, that's right.... I forgot to tell you that I won't be warning you about exciting cliffhangers anymore. Sorry. Let me just say that I had trouble writing this chapter because I don't like anything to do with needles! Not even fanfics! But it's for the good of the story..............**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Speed Racer: The Next Generation.  
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_It was dark. All around me. It didn't feel like I was on any type of ground. I could hear soft voices....._

_"Speed, please eat something."_

_"That was probably my last chance."_

_"No, he's still in there!"_

_"There's no hope."_

_"I know how shocking this must be for you."_

_"He's my brother. You have to find him."_

_...Then I started to feel. I felt pain. In my lungs, in my left hand, and in my stomach. I wanted to move my eyelids......_

......... I opened my eyes. It was night. I was laying down in a small clearing. As soon as I sat up I remembered everything. The kidnapping. Finding out who my family was. The car chase. The fire. Burning my left hand. Losing the bandana that had always ment so much to me. My hand felt... better that it probably should. How long had I been out? I lifted my hand so I could look at it. It was bandaged. I heard a twig snap.

"Who's there?" I asked.

"A friend." I heard somebody say. He sounded like Uncle Spritle. I looked to my right; a man was standing in the shadows. I could barely make out his sillowette.

"Why did you save me?" I asked.

"Because I didn't trust those firemen to do it. Now, listen. The Committee is still after you. They're the ones who started the fire. They won't stop until they get what they want. The only way they'll even back off is if you start work on your father's gasless engine. You'll find car parts in the junkyard at Racing Academy. If you finish it, they might even leave you alone. They're after X now, too. Don't trust anyone outside your family until this is over." The man said.

"Thanks for saving me." I said. He ran away. By the time I got on my feet, he was gone. In his place, I found my father's bandana. I picked it up and put it back in my pocket. I almost couldn't believe that he'd saved it from the fire. I decided to try and find my way back to the house, if the house was even still there. A few branches hit me in the face when I tried to push them back, accidentally tripped over a shrub, and I got myself completly lost for a good ten minutes, but I finally found the house. It was fairly damaged; the roof was completely gone, and a few of the walls were, too, but it didn't look like they had lost too much. Nobody had gotten hurt. I was thankful for that. However, Spritle's jacket was now missing, and both mom and X were covered in soot. Mom looked like she had been crying, and X was staring at the house, his fists clenched. Some of the firemen were still there, and an ambulance was, too; probably because parts of the house were still smoking. I was about to say something when I had a coughing fit. Everyone turned in my direction.

"Speed? Speed! Are you alright?" X was the first to speak. I couldn't find air, and I couldn't stop coughing. I couldn't give the muscles in my legs oxygen, so they buckeled. I was on the ground, gasping for air. As soon as it made contact with the ground, pain shot through my hand.

"Speed? Speed!" Mom yelled. I was starting to black out again.

"Somebody get this kid in the ambulance!" I heard one of the firemen say. I was unconcious by the time he did......................

...............I opened my eyes. _That wasn't nearly as weird as the last time, _I thought. I was staring at a grey metal ceiling. I could hear a loud siren. It sounded like an ambulance. I wondered briefly who was in it. Then I remembered.

It was me.

"How long was I out?" I groaned.

"A few minutes. Uncle Spritle's on his way in the truck so he can give us a ride." X said. I looked at the I.V. that was hooked up to my right arm. Even though I was glad to be getting nutrition of some form, I shivered; I'd always hated needles. On my left a machine was monitering my heart rate.

"The line almost went flat a few times. But you'r going to be fine." Mom said. Tears were streaming down her face, leaving lines in the soot. Next to her was a doctor.

"You're stable, now. But we're still taking you to the hospital just to be on the safe side." The doctor said. Then the ambulance stopped and I was wheeled out on the gurney. They took me to a white room and, without much effort, got me onto the bed. The doctors sent X and mom to the waiting room. They left, but not after X shot the doctors a dirty look. Then they proceded to check my lungs, check my blood, and check my hand.

"OW!!!!!" I screamed. I tried to jerk my hand away.

"Hold still, or it'll hurt more!" The nurse snapped. She was re-bandaging my hand. Apparently she didn't like the fact that I didn't know who the guy was that had bandaged it the first time while I was unconcious. I was relieved when the nurse finished..... until the doctor came in holding a needle. My eyes grew wide.

"Oh, come now. Don't tell me you're afraid of needles?" He said.

"There's no _way _you're coming _near_ me with that thing!" I said in protest.

"Don't worry. This won't hurt a bit." He said.... just before he jammed the needle into my arm. Why do doctors lie when it comes to pain?!

"See? Now that didn't hurt, now did it?" He said.

"Yes. It hurt. A lot." I said, annoyed.

"Well I'm just going to check on this blood sample. Your family should be here to visit shortly, and, depending on how this test goes, you should be getting out of here tonight." I was glad. If I had to stay overnight at a place where they jabbed needles into your arm I'd go nuts!

The doctor and the nurse left. I was alone for about five minutes. Then X, Mom, and Spritle came rushing in.

"Speed? Are you alright?" A very worried X said.

"I'm fine. The doctor said that if my blood test goes well, then I should be out of here tonight." I said.

"Oh, Speed, we were so worried about you!" Mom said. She looked like she wanted to hug me, but probably wasn't sure how to avoid pulling the I.V. out of my arm by doing so. Instead she just put her hand on my head and stroked a few of my bangs out of my face.

"What happened?" Spritle asked.

"I don't really know. When I tried to open the bathroom door, I burned my hand. I knew that wasn't good. When I finally did get it open, the entire guest room was on fire. I managed to get out of the room, but I guess the smoke made me pass out in the hallway. When I woke up, I was in the woods and my hand had been bandaged. There was this strange man there, and he said that the Committee had started the fire. He also seemed to know about the Mach 6." I said.

"Weird." X said. Then the doctor walked in.

"Well, everything checks out. Except for nutrition, and that burn. I recomend plenty of bed rest and lots of protein. Mrs. Racer, would you mind signing some release forms?" The doctor said. Mom left the room with the doctor to go sign the forms. She returned a few minutes later. The doctor took the I.V. out of my arm.

"Need help?" X asked.

"I'm fine." I replied.

"So says the kid who almost starved to death in a cave and burned in a fire." X mumbled under his breath. We all walked through a maze of hallways and out to the parking lot. Luckily, Spritle hadn't parked too far away from the entrence. We all got in the truck, and Spritle drove us to his house.  
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

It had been a few days, and things were starting to look up. My hand was starting to get better. Reconstruction was going great, and mom, X, and I expected to be back in the house before the end of summer. Once the doctor gave the O.K., I was going to start school at _Racing Academy_. I'd always wanted to race, and now I could! Of course, I had to get a car first. I was lying in one of the guest beds, trying to get some sleep, when X came running into that room.

"Speed! That Jedediah Stroke guy's here!" _That can only mean one thing, _I thought.j

"He's not trying to...." My voice trailed, but X caught on.

"...make you leave? He's saying mom doesn't have legal custody of you! That's riddiculous! Doesn't the fact that you're her _son _count for anything?"

"Unfortunately, no." I said grimly. I can't believe that I didn't see this coming! I knew that it was getting too good to last. _No, _I thought. Not this time. I mean, she's my mom! My _real, _bonafide mom! I saw the way she was looking at me in that ambulance. She looked at me in a way that none of my temporary foster mothers had. She _cared _about me. I thought about what X had said back in that cave. I couldn't lose hope, even though I might be disappointed at the outcome.  
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**Author's Note: What? You actually thought that I wouldn't find a way to turn the whole 'Wilbur Clepto's backstory re-told in third peroson' thing in chapter 2 into something that would actually advance the plot? Come on! I'm ME! I find a way to tie in _everything_ with the plot! That's one of my many secrets to writing fanfics!**


	6. Signature

**Author's note: Okay, let me just say that this is probably going to be my longest fanfic ever. I can't believe that we're at chapter 6 already, and it's only been five days! Over 7,699 words, too. If only I put this much effort into my school reports! But who wants to write 7,699 words on mitosis?**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Speed Racer: The Next Generation.  
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________**

"It doesn't?" X said in shock.

"No, not always. In cases like mine..... I guess if mom doesn't _want _custody then doesn't get it, and I get shipped back to the orphanage." I said.

"You _know _mom would never let that happen." X said seriously.

"I'm just saying." I said, even though I sort of thought it was possible mom wouldn't want custody of me. The thought came with the background.

"Don't worry. Mom and I will make sure you don't get sent back there." X said before he left the room. I quickly followed him into the living room. Spritle was looking shocked. I could hear mom yelling.

"What do you mean I could be charged with kidnapping?!" She said.

"Jed! She's not the one who kidnapped me, she's the one who helped _save _me!" I had to interject.

"Speed, when Wilbur called me and told me you'd been kidnapped, I was shocked. What have I missed?" Jed asked. I took a deep breath.

"When those two bald guys kidnapped me, X had been kidnapped, too. They took us to this shack, where there was this lady who.....knew...... certain things.... Jed, this is my mom." I tried to explain everything as best I could.

"I'm sorry, Speed, but if you don't have tangible proof that you are, in fact, related to the Racer family, then I can't grant custody." Jed said sorrowfully. My heart sank. Tangible proof was the one thing I didn't have. I was about to say so when there was a knock at the door. X answered it. He looked around, then bent down and picked something up off of the ground.

"It's for you, Speed. Don't know who knocked, though." He handed a large envelope. I took the envelope. Inside was a letter and a DVD. The letter read:

_Speed,_

_Heard what Jedediah was saying. I 'found' this at Committee headquarters. It might help. Play the DVD._

_- A friend._

"What does it say?" X asked.

"It says, to play the DVD." I said. I put the disk into Spritle's DVD player and turned on the TV. What popped up on screen blew my mind away. It was the Committee headquarters. The woman who was their leader was giving her monologue.

_"... But we still had that DNA sample. We have it all on file. Everything about that boy except his name. And now, here we are, a little over sixteen years late. Poised to find the long lost second son of the ledgendary Speed Racer. Now, Speed, I hope I won't scare you, but if for any reason you don't turn out to be Speed Racer's son, then we will have to kill you. Right here. Right now. You know far too much, and if you aren't Speed Racer's son, then of what worth are you to us?" _

She reached out and plucked a strand of hair from my head and put it into the computer. The camera paused on the scene where the Committee's computer displayed the tangible proof I needed. Underneath two identical strands of DNA, the computer flashed, in bright red letters, _TOTAL MATCH. _Then the TV screen went blank.

"Speed, mabye you and X should go into another room while we sort this out." Jedediah said.

"Okay." I said. All I could do now was hope. X and I walked into the guest room and sat down.

"You know, if Jed wasn't convinced by that, then this is goodbye." I said. X just laughed.

"No, it won't be. I don't know. We'll find a way. And even if we couldn't, you're still going to the Academy. We'd get to see each other most of the year." X managed one of those smiles that says _'I'm saying everything's going to be alright, but in reality I have no idea what's going to happen'_.

"If you don't mind me asking, how many times have you...... I mean..... how many foster parents have you had?" X asked.

"Ten." I said. "I was just getting back from a couple who lived up in Birdtown when the whole kidnapping thing happened, so... ten. None of them kept custody of me for more than a few months. Actually, from the day we first met, to about now would usually be the length of time someone would keep me."

"That's only about two weeks..." X said. He was starting to get reserved.

"The shortest was a few hours, but I don't count that couple." I said.

"A few _hours_?! That's insane! I can't _believe_ that _anyone_ would just give up custody of a kid in a few hours!" X said. "I.... I mean unless there was a criminal organization after the poor kid and giving up custody was the only way to save his life..." He added, remembering what we had learned when we were kidnapped. Then mom walked into the room.

"Speed?" She asked. She looked like she was about to cry.

"Yes, mom?" I said. She sat down next to me. I wondered if I was going to ever be able to call her 'mom' again, or if the next time I saw her she would be 'Mrs. Racer'.

"You..... are my son. And no matter what anybody else says, be that person social worker or janitor, you will always be my son. X, come here." X moved from his place on his temporary bed to my other side.

"Speed, you're staying with us. Permanently." She said with a giant grin on her face. Mom gave X and I a big bear hug (she did that a lot). Then Spritle walked in.

"Who sent you that letter with the DVD?" He asked.

"I don't know. The same person who saved me from the fire, I guess." I said with a shrug.

"Hey, Speed? Can I see that note?" X asked.

"Sure." I handed him the note. After thirty seconds, he spoke.

"Mom? I think that you should look at this." X handed the note to mom. She gasped.

"This letter is from....." Her voice trailed.

"...Dad..." X finished.


	7. Unraveling part 1

**Author's Note: WHA-HOO!!! THIS IS CH. SEVEN!!! UH-HUH! WOO! YEAH! I am FINALLY updating!! *squeal* Sorry I made you guys wait. I'll try not to have any more three-month-long disappearances, but you guys may have to wait awhile for updates. For some reason, the only way my parents will let me have internet access now is for me to have dial-up because it's cheaper (and slower, so it'll be heck trying to get chapters uploaded). ****I now know why Speed Jr. had to wait until AFTER he came to R.A. to find out he was Speed Racer's second son. Writing this chapter was HARD! Seriously, how the heck is Spritle supposed to interview Speed if he already knows the boy?!!? I had to make this chapter really long just to fit everything in here, so long I had to split this chapter into multiple parts. Right now, we're looking at two. Three at the most. And I did find a way to incorporate some dialogue from 'The Beginning' into this chapter. Some things just can't be changed. While I'll try to update sooner, I'm actually working on an original novel. Anyway, I'm begging you guys to review this chapter and tell me how I did. I WANT TO KNOW!!! Flame me if it's that bad… but please, just REVIEW!!!**

**P.S. Connor you are W-R-O-N-G, WRONG! I'M Speed Racer's biggest fan!!! Oh, and one other thing I'd like to point out: Chim-Chim is NOT a MONKEY!!! He is a CHIMPANZEE! Does Chim-Chim have a tail? NOT IN THIS LIFETIME! If he was a monkey, Connor would have named him Mon Key or something like that. Heck, there are about a dozen other distinctions between chimps and monkeys, but I won't bore you with those and just skip right to the story.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Speed Racer: The Next Generation or Hotwheels©.  
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"Okay, so once you're in the main building, you go into the lobby. You'll know it when you see it, there's cars dangling from the ceiling, and a lot of posters of famous racers. There'll be a sign on your right that'll give you directions to Headmaster Spritle's office. Oh, and nobody really calls him 'Headmaster Spritle'. They usually just call him 'Headmaster'. I've got to get to class, but meet me in the cafeteria during lunch and I'll introduce you to my friends." X said as I exited his car, the Shooting Star.

"Thanks, I think I can take it from here." I replied. X nodded and drove away. I turned to face the main part of the school. _Wow, _was all I could think. When X said the main building was huge, he meant _huge._ It was hard to believe that I was actually here. I decided that standing in the middle of the road wouldn't make it any more believable, so I shifted the grip I had on the suitcase my mom had bought me (even after hours of me pleading for just a simple backpack. She bought clothes for X and I, too. I didn't object _too _terribly much to that, at least, not out loud) and walked inside. X was right, the lobby wasn't hard to find, and when he said 'cars dangling from the ceiling' he meant _actual cars._ I couldn't stop myself from worriedly glancing up at the ceiling, and imagining one of those cars falling right on top of me. _Note to self, _I thought, _stay _away_ from the lobby. _

I was intently looking for that sign that X mentioned, and I almost didn't see the girl, and when I did, it was too late. We collided and both fell to the ground. She dropped her books, and I dropped my suitcase, and all the contents spilled out. _This is one of the many reasons why I prefer a nice sturdy backpack, _I thought to myself. I stared at her for a moment. She had dark brown skin and short, curly brown hair. She was wearing a blue mechanics uniform and had dark brown eyes.

"I'm sorry." We both said at the same time. I was picking up her books, and she was grabbing all my clothes and putting them back in my suitcase. I finished with the books and moved back to my clothes. She reached down and picked up the cheap brown backpack I had bought in secret with the change from the money for clothes my mom had lent me (and a few extra bucks I had in my pocket).

"Quick question: why do you have a backpack in your suitcase?" She asked.

"Ummmm… I was planning to lose the suitcase later." I said, sheepishly.

"Oh." She gave me a quizzical look. "You must be new. I'm Lucy." She offered her hand for me to shake. I shook it.

"I'm Speed." A look of recognition passed over her face. _Three, two, one… _I thought.

"Wow, with that name you shouldn't be teased at all around here." _Well, that was different_, I thought. A bell rang. "I've go to get to class. See you later, Speed."

"See you later, Lucy." She left. I picked up my suitcase. A few minutes later, I finally found the sign that X was talking about. It led me up about eleven floors to another, smaller lobby that was simpler than the one downstairs. A dark haired, pale skinned secretary in a gray suit greeted me.

"He's in his office. You can go on in." She said in a nasally voice. She pointed to a wooden door on the opposite end of the room. I walked in.

My uncle's office was almost as simple as the lobby just outside the door, but there were a few posters of my dad on the walls.

"Speed, please sit down." Spritle said. I set my suitcase down and took a seat in one of the two wooden chairs Spritle had in his office.

"You know that you're about three days early for the qualifying race. In light of your car situation, that's probably a good thing. You will need to take the qualifying race; every new student has to. But a lot of students have broken cars and spare parts. If you ask around, I'm sure somebody will loan you something for the time being. Come to me in a few days if you don't turn up with anything." Spritle said.

"Yes, sir." I replied.

"Here's your room key. Your dorm is in the Grand Prix Building. Good luck." Spritle said with a half smile.

"Thank you, sir." I said. I stood up, grabbed my key and walked out the door. It occurred to me that I didn't have the slightest clue as to where the Grand Prix Building was. Maybe I could find X somewhere, or maybe Lucy. I looked to my left. On a table was a bunch of brochures, applications, and maps of the school. _They should really have these downstairs, _I thought to myself as I picked up one of the complicated maps. It looked like if I left the building, turned left at the main entrance to the campus, and passed every other building in the school, I would arrive at my destination. I shifted the grip I had on my suitcase and started back down the stairs.

*****

After about fifteen minutes of walking, getting lost, looking at the map again, and getting lost two more times after that, I finally found the Grand Prix building. I glanced at my plastic key. Room 208. Shouldn't be too hard to find. Sure enough, once I entered the building, there were signs over the various hallways telling me which rooms they contained: 1-150, 151-200, 201-300, and 300-350. I walked down the third hallway into what seemed to be yet another lobby, this one decorated with bucket seats underneath a set of overhanging stairs leading to the upper hallway. I decided to look up there, since that was where all of the dorms seemed to be. Luckily, room 208 was fairly close to the staircase. I put my key in the electronic slot, and the metallic door slid open, revealing a room decorated with red and yellow checkered rugs, and just about of every Speed Racer-related scrap of merchandise out there. A kid who was _dressed _exactly like my dad looked up from the textbook he was reading. He had pale skin and bright red hair.

"Hey, you must be the new kid. I'm Connor, in case you were wondering. What's your name?" He said in a pre-pubescent voice. I glanced around at all the stuff with my dad's face on it.

"…Speed…" I said sheepishly, knowing that this time, the person that I was talking to would _definitely _freak out.

"Wow, your name's Speed? That is so cool! I'm Speed Racer's biggest fan. I mean, I'm a fan of _the _Speed, so don't freak out. No one knows more about Speed Racer or the Mach 5 than me!" _Wanna bet?_ I thought. Connor continued. "I mean, if it still existed. But I've managed to recreate a small scale model." Connor held up a miniature version of my father's car that was just shorter that a Hotwheels© car.

"That's cool; and really small." I said.

"You know he's Headmaster Spritle's older brother."

"Yeah, I knew that." I said.

"And X is his son. He's really good at racing. Not as good as Speed Racer, mind you, but better than anyone else here."

"I knew that, too."

"Did you know that they recently found out that Speed Racer had a _second _son?" I wanted to slap Connor upside the head. But of course, I didn't.

"Oh believe me, I knew _that._" I said.

"Your bed's over there." Connor pointed to the empty twin sized bed on the opposite side of the room. I set my suitcase down on top of it. No sooner than I had started to unpack, the door slid open and a small white robotic chimpanzee came barreling in the room, Lucy quickly following behind, anger plastered onto her face.

"Chim-Chim, give me back my backpack!!!" She yelled as she chased the robot around the room, occasionally tripping over furniture.

"Quick question; why do you have a robot chimp?" I asked Connor.

"I made him. I wanted a real chimpanzee, but I'm allergic to most mammals." He said. He turned to face his robot.

"Chim-Chim, give her the backpack." Connor said. The robot spit Lucy's backpack out of its mouth and handed it to Lucy. I didn't know whether it was cool or disgusting.

"My geometry homework better be in here or I'm making you into a calculator!" Lucy threatened. "Oh, it's you again." She said, in a much kinder tone, turning to me.

"And you again." I said. "Welcome to my new home. Or at least it will be once I unpack." She smiled politely, and then that same look of realization passed over her face.

"Connor! I almost forgot; some of your mail must have gotten mixed up with mine. Here's your 'Car and Racer' magazine." She said, turning to face Connor and handing him a thick magazine from out of her backpack. He glanced at the cover, then to me, then to Lucy, and then back to the cover. He glared at Lucy.

"You knew."

"Knew….what?" Lucy asked, looking around.

"You knew that he was Speed Racer's second son, didn't you."

"Yeah, so?"

"So, why didn't you tell me?" Connor asked. His expression lightened.

"Because I just met him about an hour ago, and I got out of class ten minutes ago."

"Wait, how come I didn't hear any bells?" I asked, not only out of curiosity but out of the need to change the subject.

"Because the only bells that go to the dorms are for breakfast, first period, lunch, dinner, and curfew. The reason they do that is because nobody can have free period during second, third, fifth, or sixth period so it's pretty pointless." Lucy responded.

"Hello? You could have just texted me." Connor said, returning to the subject.

"Like I was supposed to know he would be your roommate." Lucy said, rolling her eyes.

"How many other new kids have come in early?" Connor asked, sarcastically. Then I realized something.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa; am I on the cover of that magazine?" I asked.

"Yeah. It looks like they did a whole article about you." Connor handed me the magazine. Sure enough, my face was on the cover. No member of the press had taken it though; it was a school photo from a few months ago. Written on the cover of the magazine was: _Could Speed Racer's long lost son be the missing link to his disappearance? (P.78)._ I turned to page seventy-eight, and there was a one-page article about nearly everything; the kidnapping, the rescue, the fire, social services. I skimmed a bit, and actually found out that two actual social workers died so that the 'criminal organization that possibly caused Speed Racer's disappearance' could steal their identities and kidnap me. Well _that _just made my day a whole lot better. Two people _died _because of me. Arthur Summers and Scott Parks were their names. Those people probably had families, and friends. Connor interrupted my thoughts.

"So, have you always known you were Speed Racer's son? Do you know why he disappeared? Are the rumors that Speed Racer was working on a gasless engine before he disappeared true? Did the people who kidnapped you and X start the fire?"

"Connor!" Lucy snapped, slapping him in the arm.

"In that order, no, no idea, again, no clue, and how the heck should I know?" I said, remembering what the strange man had said about trusting people outside the Racer family. Hey, one of those answers was true.

"Oh... well… where's your car?" Connor asked, more slowly this time.

"I…don't have a ride." I said reluctantly.

"What? How can you attend Racing Academy without a car? Especially since the headmaster is your _uncle_ and he never gives _anyone _a break. Not even X. What are you going to do for your qualifying race?" I was growing tired of Connor and all his questions.

"It's a long story about the car, and it's not like Headmaster Spritle hasn't ever seen me drive before. By the way, Spritle really likes what you did with his truck." It was true. A few days ago, X challenged me to a race through the salt flats; him in his Shooting Star against me in Spritle's truck. I beat X the first couple rounds, but the Shooting Star _is_ designed for racing.

"Cool. I crashed on my qualifier, but I'm one great mechanic. That's the only reason I'm still here."

"I'm a navigator. I would have given you directions to the Headmaster's office, but you were three feet too far to the right for you to take the shortcut without going nine seconds out of your way. I'm also a mechanic, but I'm not as good as him." Lucy added.

"I really just want to race. I'm pretty good behind the wheel. As for navigation, I don't do well in unfamiliar territory, especially if it's like a forest or something like that. I know a thing or two about mechanics, I've been helping take care of a Model T that was owned by a friend of mine since I was six, but I could never put together an engine from scratch or anything like that. As for the qualifying race, I'm just hoping to get something that runs and hope for the best." I said, feeling like I needed to explain what I did, or was planning to do at least.

"Well, I don't know about the best, but I know where we can get you a car. And I could probably fix it up for you so it would run like a dream in time for the qualifying race." Connor said, eyes gleaming like a kid in a candy store at his next big project. I could just tell he would do just about anything to work with cars, especially new designs. There was one more reason I couldn't tell my new roommate about my father's gasless engine. Then a bell rang.

"That's lunch." Lucy said. "Can I leave my backpack here and come back for it later? I really don't feel like missing half of lunch to go put it in my room or taking it with me."

"Sure." Connor said. I followed my friends to the lunch room, where they were serving burgers. X came over and introduced me to his friends and his girlfriend.

"Annalise, Jared, Jesse, this is my brother, Speed. Speed, this is Annalise, Jared, and Jesse." X gestured to a girl wearing a short red dress with a low neckline and purple boots and two twins with blonde hair who were wearing earthy shirts and jeans.

"Hey." The girl, whom I'm assuming was Annalise, said, then went back to filing her nails.

"What's up?" The twins said.

Everybody ate in silence during what was probably the most awkward lunch of my life.

* * *

**A/N: Well, that's part one everybody. Yeah, I know nothing much happened, but I felt like you guys deserved SOMETHING so this is it. I will try to update at least once a week, most likely on Fridays or Saturdays.**


	8. Unraveling part 2

**Author's Note:**** Okey dokey, here's Unraveling, part 2. Oh, and if anybody knows how to properly spell the word 'syched' (pronounced **_**sigh-k-d**_**), please review if I misspelled it. Oh, and I need to know what the technical term for that thing that looks like a plank of wood with wheels attached that mechanics use to get under cars is. Oh, and I'm no mechanic, so if someone is and I seriously messed up on something, please review so I can fix it.**

**Disclaimer:**** I don't own Speed Racer. If I did, X and Annalise would have broken up by episode 4.  
**

* * *

After lunch, I rejoined Connor and Lucy.

"So, how was lunch with the most _popular_ kids in school?" Connor asked, his voice dripping with sarcasm for once. I heard him mumble something that sounded like, "Wish I could've sat with Annalise."

"It was not fun. I don't think that X's girlfriend likes me, and those other two guys are dumber that a fence post."

"More like a brick wall." Lucy said.

"I'd say about as useful as a fifth wheel on a car." Connor said. We all laughed at that.

"Anyway, where's this car that's going to run like a dream, Connor?" I asked.

"I never said that it would run like a dream. I merely said that I could fix it up to do so." Connor said matter-of-factly.

"Touché." I said.

"The car's in here." Connor said as we came to a garage in the Grand Prix Building. He swiped his key in front of it. "This garage belongs to room 208, so you can come in here anytime you like." He added. The garage door opened to reveal my 'new car'.

"Wow... That... is hideous." Said Lucy. "I thought you said you could make this thing run? It looks like it should've been totaled by now."

"I don't care how ugly she is," I said, already deciding that if my car could be any gender, it would be a female, "I'm just syched she's mine." I said running up to my car and checking it out. Lucy had been right. The car was hideous. The body was rusted and it looked like the bumpers were held on primarily by duct tape. The words 'Lost Hero' were painted on the side in a surprisingly un-chipped white paint.

"Of course I can make this thing run. It can even run now, but not for very long. I told you, I need a few days to fix it up." Connor said to Lucy. Turning to me, he said, "It's a good thing that you came a few days early. Otherwise, you would've had to drive this thing straight out of the garage."

"Hey, Speed. I heard your garage was here, and thought I might stop by. Hey Connor, hey Lucy." X appeared at the garage door and greeted us. He took one look at the Lost Hero and stopped in his tracks. He smacked his face.

"You are not." He said.

"It's almost officially my car." I said. "I know it's not much to look at, but soon it'll be _my car._ And we're going to fix it up. It should only take a few days." I said, ignoring my brother and turning to the car. The bumper promptly fell off. "And we can always reattach that." I added.

"Forget a few days. In order to get this junker fixed in time for the qualifying race you'd need at least a few _weeks_." X said, shaking his head. He walked over to the Lost Hero and lifted the hood. "Make that months. This thing looks like it had been totaled."

"X, we really just need it to run long enough for the qualifying race. After that, we can look at trying to build a new engine."

"Speed-."

"Don't even try to disenchant them." Lucy said, cutting X off. "I've got to go get my backpack. When you guys get your heads out of the clouds and back on the track where they belong, then I'll help you fix up the car." She said, walking toward the exit. "Oh, and Speed, just so you know, you aren't allowed anywhere near the track until the qualifying race. School rules." She added.

"Out of the three of you, I'd say Lucy has the brain." X said once she left.

"Hey!" Connor said from underneath the hood of the Lost Hero. He was already making adjustments.

"Don't either of you have classes?" I asked X and Connor.

"I was just headed to defensive driving." X said. He then turned away and headed toward the exit.

"Advanced auto mechanics; I need to start/finish a project, which I have just decided is fixing the Lost Hero, that's due this Friday. My professor won't mind if I skip as long as I'm working on the project." Connor said. "Chim-Chim, where are you? I need your help." As if on cue, the small robot came bursting out of the trunk. In just a few short steps/hops, it was alongside Connor, helping him fix the car. For a while, I just listened to the 'conversations' they would have. Hey, they were pretty funny.

"Chim-Chim, no! Don't eat the air filter." Connor scolded.

"Beep, beep! Chirp!"The robot (sort of) replied.

"Chim-Chim put it back."

"Chirp!"

"I know it tastes good."Connor replied.

"Hey, do you need any help?" I asked. Connor and Chim-Chim were funny and all, but I was feeling like deadweight.

"Sure. I need someone on the undercarriage." Connor said. "And someone to start the car occasionally to see how much progress we're making." I grabbed the sliding board with the wheels on it and got underneath the car.

"This thing is a mess." I said. Wires were sticking out everywhere. There were no brake lines that I could identify. "We're definitely going to need some more parts."

"I know. I'll have to borrow them from my mechanics class tomorrow. But eventually I will have to give them back. Luckily, today's Monday, the qualifying race is Wednesday, and my project is due Friday, so you'll have plenty of time." Connor said.

"So, why did you procrastinate on your project?" I asked, coming out from underneath the car.

"I didn't. The assignment was to see how much we could do in a week. It was only given to us last Friday." Connor said, pushing me back under with his foot. "So, what all happened? When you were kidnapped, I mean."

"That's... not something I really want to talk about right now..." I said, sighing. I still wondered, out of all people, why it had to happen to me.

"Oh...Well... what about the fire? You went missing, and then walked out of the woods, right?"

"Yeah..." I said reluctantly.

"So... how did that happen? I mean... how did you get out of there without anybody noticing you?" I didn't answer that.

"You know you don't talk a lot about yourself." Connor said.

"There isn't much to talk about." I countered. I went back underneath the car. For a while, we worked in silence. Then Connor glanced at his watch, said he needed to get to his next class, and it was just me and the robotic chimp, working on the Lost Hero. Now, if one were typing up my life's story, and one were typing up that particular sentence, it would be very likely that said author would probably think to themselves:_ Now there's something I never thought I'd type._

*About*two*hours*later*

I was underneath the car. Chim-Chim had run off somewhere. After a while, Lucy walked back in to the garage.

"Hey." I said.

"Hey." She said. "How long have you been working on this?" She said, leaning down against the car. I rolled out from underneath it.

"A few hours. Connor had to get to class. I'm assuming that school is over?" I asked.

"Yeah. Nobody really does anything until dinner. Then it's get as much stuff done as you can as fast as you can before curfew. You need any help?" She asked.

"Yes, please." I said with a half smile.

I had to admit, although working in general wasn't fun, working with Lucy was. She lifted up the hood, and, wrench in hand, gracefully re-attached sparkplugs, examined cylinders, and repaired radiators. Eventually, we switched places; I moved to work under the hood, while she started work on the undercarriage. Everything ran smoothly when we worked together. When I was with her, I felt like nothing could go wrong. We worked on the Lost Hero until the bell rang for dinner. This time, I sat with her and Connor.

"So, where were you while Speed and I were working on the Lost Hero?" Lucy asked Connor, who looked up from his spaghetti innocently.

"I was seeing Mitch about car parts. He said he'd give them to me for free if I gave him something of Speed's he could sell over the internet. I'll check my auto-mechanics class for parts tomorrow." Turning to me, he said. "Mitch is the local stalker, and not in an amorous way, which means more ladies for the Con-mister." He said grinning.

"Like any girl in the school would want to date you." Lucy teased.

"ANYWAY, he'll steal anything from anyone famous. His main target is X, although he used to steal stuff from Annalise until she paid him to back off. He said you're top prospect right now."

"Tell him he can have my suitcase once I finish unpacking. I prefer a nice sturdy backpack." I said, digging into my dinner.

"Trust me, he would prefer your suitcase _before_ you finished unpacking." X interjected, walking over to our table.

"What are you doing here?" I asked.

"Annalise and I got into a fight a couple hours ago." X said, looking at his shoes.

"What happened?" Lucy asked.

"She...said some things that I didn't necessarily... agree with, and it went downhill from there." X said. He looked across the cafeteria at Annalise, who promptly looked away, her nose turned up. "So, how's work on the car going?" He asked, changing the subject.

"Good so far. We still need a few parts, though." I said.

"Such as?" X inquired. I could tell that he was enjoying this; it would prove that he was right about the car.

"...Well, we need break lines." I said.

"And new sparkplugs." Lucy added.

"Don't we need radiator fluid, too?" Connor asked.

"I think so." I replied.

"Of course you do." X said sarcastically, taking a bite of his meatball.

"Hey, we can get it working by Wednesday."

"Of course you can." X said. I grabbed a nearby bottle of ketchup and promptly squirted my brother in the face. He then returned the favor, only with mustard.

"Hey, how about we _not_ start a food fight?" Lucy said.

"Killjoy." I muttered. Lucy kicked me in the shins underneath the table.

*Sometime*later*that*night*

We were in my room. Mitch and I were discussing a trade for car parts.

"Pleasure doing business with you." Mitch said. He drove a hard bargain. I had started out with my suitcase for all of the parts we needed. Then he said the suitcase and my toothbrush for all of the parts. Eventually, he settled for my suitcase, some of my socks, a few used napkins, the pudding cup that I had just finished eating, and my used toothpaste (he actually made me use all of the toothpaste I had to brush my teeth, and then spit it out into a plastic bag and give it to him. Needless to say, it was the weirdest thing I have ever done) in exchange for the car parts.

"It was... weird doing business with you." I replied. He left with everything in a huge trash bag, and I had all the parts we needed in a toolbox. I set the box down on the desk.

"Out of all the weird things that I have ever done in my life, trading used toothpaste for car parts is one of the weirdest." I said to Connor, who, surprisingly, had sat quietly through the whole thing.

"There are things weirder than that?" Connor asked.

"Try being kidnapped by a secret criminal organization and being told that you're the long-lost second son of the world's most famous racer." I said.

"Aha! So you _admit_ that it was a secret criminal organization!" Connor exclaimed.

"I admitted nothing." I said. "So, tomorrow when can we resume work on the Lost Hero? The qualifying race is Wednesday, after all."

"Chim-Chim will probably help you most of the morning, Lucy and I will be there right before lunch to help you out. Then you and Chim0Chim are on your own again, unless X wants to help during his free period." Connor said, sleepily. The bell rang for curfew. "Hey, Speed?" He asked while changing into his footsy pajamas. I briefly wondered why they even made them for teenagers anymore.

"Yeah?"

"When you were with Annalise, did she say anything about me?" He asked hopefully.

"No." I was about to say something about her dating X, but then I remembered the fight that they were fighting.

"Oh... I'm going to sleep now." Connor said, and he did. I removed my shirt and slept in my jeans.

* * *

**Author's Note:**** No, Unraveling is not done. I still have to get Tuesday and Wednesday out of the way. Then the action starts up again. And a little drama, just for all the people who like drama. It's drama, and it's action: it's draction! Or Actioma! On that note, I BEG YOU TO REVIEW!!!!!!!!!!! ALL REVIEWS ARE WELCOME, EVEN FLAMES (but if you're going to flame me, please keep the language at the rating level, which is T.) For all who review, I will share my 3 Musketeers bars with them! (Yes, I love 3 Musketeers bars because they remind me of X: hard on the outside, a little softer on the inside, 100% CHOCOLATE!!!!!!!)**

**Speed: "What food am I?"**

**Me: "... I'd say that you would be... BIRTHDAY CAKE FLAVORED ICE CREAM WITH JELLY BEANS STUCK TO IT!!!! Because you're sweet and good looking like birthday cake flavored ice cream and you have your jelly bean serious moments!!!!!!!! **


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